We are 1-nil down to PSG and we are playing today at their home ground. Not an ideal situation to be in, specially when PSG under Luis Enrique are playing some beautiful attacking football. But we have our midfield back and with Thomas anchoring it and Declan getting his freedom to move forward, we can certainly play better football today. The only goal from first leg will force Mikel to go all out attacking and the second leg of the Semi Final could turn out to be an exciting affair.
There are couple of things. Declan Rice is an asset, a 100m player when moving forward with the ball but he is not a match to Partey as a DM. Having both fit and in the squad boosts our win rates. Secondly, we can’t afford to miss our chances today. In the first leg, we did fail to bury some of them and it could be fatal to our Champions League run. Barcelona v Inter was a treat to watch last night, and gave us a hope that it’s not over till the final minutes.
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I am expecting Merino to be back to his newly found CF role with a back 4 of MLS, Kiwior, Saliba and Timber. Partey, Rice and Odegaard will start in the midfield while Saka and Martinelli will retain their positions. We were a threat whenever Saka moved towards the middle and we have noticed it with Martinelli too, but I have no idea why Arteta instructs them to stick to the side line. If we are expecting to win this, we need to be more direct, we need to move ball faster and we need to be precise in our passing and shooting. There’s zero margin for errors if you expect to qualify to the finals for the Champions League.
There was a news earlier that Ousmane Dembele had picked up an injury and will not be available for today, but we are not that lucky. He is back to his fitness and he will be a bigger threat today at his home. Kiwior and Saliba needs to find a way to suss him while allowing the wing backs to move forward.
1-0 is a dangerous proposition and can work in favor or against. If we put some pressure initially, manage to score one in the first 30min, we will be in the driving seat.
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Truth be told, I have never seen Arsenal play a semi final game (except the first leg). The last time it happened in ’09, I was still playing cricket. If we win today and go to finals, there is a very good chance we can beat Inter (compared to Barcelona), and it can make things easier for Mikel.
Right, a short one today. Extremely sorry for being absent recently, the immunity overall after Covid has been fucked up and doc says another week before I can get back to normal.
Lets conquer Paris and paint it Red and White! #COYG
Probably means the departure of Partey. His wife has been the one holding back earlier advances by English clubs – she would rather stay in Spain.
Or probably one year extension and it would give time for Zubimendi to adapt to the league and in that DM role.
So, this signing means , Berta is here for the easy money and has no intention in rocking the boat. Been this way for years, that’s why we win fuck all and have losers in charge.
Just what we need, another expensive defensive midfielder, who does nothing, that an Elneny or Harry Winks type can’t.
So when teams come to the Emirates , they will watch the new player weave pretty passing patterns and this cunt in charge will say , we deserved to win when it’s nil nil.
Berta should sack this cunt in charge, spend his budget on attacking premier league players or he can fuck of as well
Do these cunts actually watch how the top Euros sides play these days?
Barcelona, Inter Milan, PSG: Hello they attack and buy attacking players.
this isn’t a Berta move, as he’s been on MA’s radar for a couple seasons now…last season when he refused to join on we got his teammate Merino instead…so. now we’ll have paid over 100M for the midfield pairing from a largely middling side…btw he provides absolutely nothing going forward, in 166 La Liga matches, since 2020-21, he has 10 goals and 9 assists…not to mention, that means our 100+M world-class DM, Rice, will be deployed in more advanced spaces…btw Rice scored 3 goals in 33 PL appearances…now I’ve watched Zubi on numerous occasions and he clearly has some defensive skills, but I just don’t see a starting midfield 3 of Zubi, Rice and Ode providing enough going forward…not to mention, what’s going to happen with Havertz should we get a REAL striker…speaking of which, we shouldn’t have spent a plug nickel on anyone until we shored up our most pressing needs up top…underwhelming from a needs standpoint…Berta looks to be getting the Edu treatment right out of the gate
let’s hope we weren’t baited into another shit transfer by Real feigning interest, like with Havertz…there’s no doubt in my mind if Real truly wanted him, especially with his connections to their new skipper and MA’s former bestie, Alonso, who btw continues to one-up our little guy like he did during their playing careers, he would be signing with them
until we redress our offensive deficiencies, the only defensive-minded signing I want to hear about is the re-upping of Saliba
that includes the signing of ANOTHER fucking Keeper!!!
What about the real signing we need – another full back maybe two?
Marc—here’s how fucked up we are, the rumours getting the most play are the following (in order of perceived importance), DM, Keeper, Defender, right-sided forward, then Striker WTF!!!!!!!!!!
if we were a serious club we would be all-in for Wirtz, Isak and Nico…we would also be trying to offload Havertz, Jesus and Tross…now that would be a true statement of intent!
Tross is OK as a bench warmer – Havertz and Jesus should never been bought – they are crap. Roy of the Rovers Rice wants to be an attacking mid but is way out of his depth in that position.
I agree with all of your sentiments except one, as I would rather have Marts sitting behind Nico than Tross
thought the following was a rather spot on assessment of Arteta’s Arsenal:
In a searing takedown on AI Scouted, Guy Drinkel joined Dave Hendrick to dissect Arsenal’s recent failures — not just in the league, but in identity, philosophy, and management.
“Another season of failure for Arsenal,” Hendrick declared, summarising the Gunners’ campaign. The conversation began with laughter about Arsenal’s “histrionics and the lies from Mike Arteta,” particularly his claim that PSG’s bench said Arsenal were “by far the better team” — a statement that PSG boss Luis Enrique quickly denied.
The scrutiny turned forensic as the hosts unpacked five years under Arteta. “Since the start of the Mike Arteta project in the summer 2020… they have won nothing,” said Hendrick. Noting that nearly £750 million in transfer fees, £150 million in agent fees, and £100 million in payoffs had gone into the project, he summarised: “That’s about a billion quid… and they’ve won nothing.”
Even Arsenal’s solitary trophy came under fire. “He’s won one FA Cup with Unai Emery’s team… an FA Cup against Frank [Lampard],” scoffed Drinkel. The run was described as fortunate, played “in front of empty stadiums,” with scorers who were soon “run out of the club.”
The Unmerited Arrogance of Mikel Arteta
“Is there a more unlikable manager doing the rounds at the minute than Arteta?” Drinkel posed. Hendrick responded with comparisons to the likes of Mourinho and Simeone, managers who had earned their arrogance through “consistent elite-level winning.” By contrast, he noted, “Arteta has got nothing to show for this project.”
Arsenal’s squad planning came in for especially sharp criticism. “They’re not a finished squad… and this is five years and £750 million in,” Hendrick said. “You shouldn’t still be looking at it and going ‘Well, we need X, Y, Z and then two other things’.” The signings of Declan Rice (£105 million), Kai Havertz (£65 million), and Ben White (£50 million) were condemned for “bad profiling.” On Rice, Hendrick noted: “He’s not a 105-million-pound footballer… not transformative and not a number six either.”
Arteta’s tactical style was another sticking point. “He’s playing a reductive brand of football,” said Hendrick. “He’s not coaching his team to defend well — he’s coaching his team to be defensive.” The stats did not flatter: Arsenal have scored “64 goals in 35 games… less than Newcastle,” Hendrick emphasised. “Look at the PSG second leg. All bar two of their good chances come from a throw-in, a free-kick or a corner. That’s plan A.”
Cheers
TRVL
Comprehensive take
Explains why we are in this shit
Thanks
Hoopah—it’s been so difficult trying to get REAL takes about our club, due in large part to all the payola being shelled out by Arteta’s PR minions, that you have to actually do a deep dive into what articles opposing clubs are plucking off the online media market…Cheers bud
“In a searing takedown on AI Scouted, Guy Drinkel joined Dave Hendrick to dissect Arsenal’s recent failures”
Christ we’ve been saying this for years and they don’t even mention the players he inherited when talking about the money spent / pissed up the wall – Saka, Saliba and Martinelli being the obvious.
The media sharks have began to turn on Arteta – they’re all sheep once it becomes the thing to attack him rather than praise him they’ll move in for the kill. If he doesn’t make 2nd it’ll start before next season even kicks off – if he does he’ll get a handful of matches.
And remember 6 months ago if you put a ticket on TX it went in hours – often minutes my last few tickets haven’t sold after a week.
I’m going to enjoy watching Arteta ripped to shreds next season and the fans who sit round me / friends who told me how wrong I am about Arteta start to rewrite history.
“Tross is OK as a bench warmer ”
Trossard is not a bad player and £25 million for a player from another PL club is not a crazy fee – you can’t have 5 or 6 superstars on the bench. Go back and look at the number of “functional” players who picked up multiple PL winners medals under Fergie, go back and look at some of the players who made an important contribution to the 97/98 or Invincibles title wins.
There are 2 problems at Arsenal – 1) A cunt of a manager and 2) fan’s who support the cunt.
Marc
1. manager is a big one 2. Pedro – even bigger.
I wonder what his Dad thinks about his Son being so far up El B’s arse when they both were criticising Wenger for years. Arteta is Wenger Mk II with a downgrade on the style of football.
New post.